The Masks We Wear
by Songcrystal
Summary: When a girl who has lost everything but her worst team member is forced to work with it to save the world from a maniac bent on releasing the power of Dialga and Palkia, she finds that sometimes people--and Pokemon--can be more than they seem. Please R&R!
1. Disappearing Act

"The Masks We Wear"

Rating: PG-13, for mild violence, language, and frightening scenes

Genre: Action/Adventure/possible Romance

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon, and am not ever likely to, no matter how much money I invest into catching 'em all. All I own are my own characters: namely the two protagonists, my dastardly evil villain, and random assorted Pokémon belonging to those characters and others they meet along the way.

NOTE: This story was inspired by the episode "So Near, and Yet So Farfetch'd" in the original series of the anime. At one point, Misty is left with nothing but her Psyduck, so I wondered, what would a trainer do when they're left with nothing but the worst member of their team, perhaps permanently? And hence, this story.

Synopsis: When all of her Pokémon except the most pathetic, Surskit, are stolen, Edith is forced to start over with it in order to rescue them. But getting her Pokémon back, she finds, is just the beginning. For once she meets the true villain in the picture, she'll have to forge an unlikely alliance with a thief to avert certain catastrophe. And she'll find along the way, that everyone wears masks to protect themselves, so perhaps people—and Pokémon—can be more than they seem…

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Chapter One: Disappearing Act

"You know, maybe I should just give up."

Edith Prestear stared down at her last remaining Pokémon, her Surskit. She wasn't in an official battle, or trying to catch a new member of her team. No, she fumed, there was no legitimate reason to be stuck with pathetic little Skitter…except for the no-good thief who had stolen the rest of her group two days ago.

After the shock of finding all her Poké Balls gone, after the second (and not really pleasant) surprise of finding her Surskit had escaped—or been rejected—and had found his way back to her, she had been so depressed she'd been ready to sit down on Route 214 and stay there for good.

"Skit?" asked Skitter, clinging to her shoulder the way he always did. He'd been nothing but a nuisance since he'd come back, refusing to let her out of his sight even to go to the bathroom. Not that he hadn't been a nuisance to start with, she mused. How many times did that make that she'd thought she was finally rid of him? Six? Seven?

"You couldn't even track them. You couldn't tell me where they'd gone, which direction you came from. Nothing!" She tried to push him off, but his many legs tightened around her arm. "You're cutting off my circulation!"

Squealing mournfully, Skitter shifted to her other shoulder as she swatted at him. Deciding it was better to just keep going, she climbed a ridge. "Thank goodness," she sighed when she reached the top. "That must be the Valor Lakefront, and the Grand Lake Hotel. At least I can finally fix my blasted Pokétch and phone an Officer Jenny."

Shifting her backpack and almost managing to knock Skitter off in the process, she strode purposefully down the next ridge. Valor Lake glistened in the distance off to the east, and the path around it seemed to lead directly to the hotel, which towered over everything else in its vicinity.

About halfway down, she saw a boy sitting on a rock. A bit younger than her fifteen years, and looking cocky. Just the sort of trainer she would have loved to battle a few weeks ago. Now all she wanted to do was run. But it was too late. He'd seen her, and once two trainers locked eyes, they had to battle.

"There goes half my hard-earned savings," she muttered, disgusted. The thief had seen fit to leave her money alone—and take away her source of continued income instead. The boy came towards her.

"My name's Jonah," he said, "and I challenge you to a Pokémon battle!"

"Hi there." Edith offered her hand. "My name's Edie. I don't suppose, just this once, we could skip the battle? My other Pokémon got stolen and this is the only one I have left."

Jonah laughed. "Man, that's the best excuse I ever heard to get out of fighting! Sorry, though. I really want to stay at that hotel tonight instead of in my sleeping bag, but I'm a little low on spare change."

Edith sighed. "You and me both, kid. All right, one-on-one, since that's all I've got. Skitter, go!"

The boy stepped back as the tiny blue Surskit jumped off her shoulder and growled menacingly at him. Well, as menacingly as it could. Then he smiled, walked back a few paces, and pulled a red-and-white sphere from his belt. "Bidoof, go!"

A dopey-looking brown creature that resembled a beaver formed from the beam that shot out of the Poké Ball. "Doof?" it asked, sitting back on its haunches and eyeing its opponent with a vacant stare.

"Go attack that thing! Tackle!"

"Skitter, dodge!"

The Bidoof came running forward, but it had gotten a late start, and Edith's early warning command had given Skitter enough time to scramble away. "Skitter, use your Bubble!" Edie commanded, certain that even _it_ couldn't mess up that simple a command.

Apparently it could. Skitter's bubbles went gliding in the right direction, but they were so slow-moving that the Bidoof appeared to be enjoying them. "Thanks for the bubble bath!" Jonah called. "Bidoof, tackle it again and finish it!"

Edith groaned. The Bidoof was much closer now. "Skitter, Quick Attack!"

Rushing to obey, the Surskit leaped into action. It collected itself and rolled hard at its foe. There was the sound of a collision, and dust flew up into the air. When it cleared, both Pokémon had fainted.

Or so it seemed, until Skitter struggled to his feet. Wobbly, he made his way back to his astounded trainer. Determined to mask her shock, Edith walked over and shook Jonah's hand. "Nice battle, kid. Guess I'll be going now." She saw his offer of a slim pile of bills, and waved it away. He hadn't been kidding about being short on funds.

"Is that Bidoof all you have?"

Jonah nodded. "I'm not strong enough to capture any other Pokémon yet. And I can't get stronger if I keep losing battles."

"Keep this in mind," Edith advised. "Using Pokémon isn't the only way to catch others. My first two Pokémon were caught by net."

"Like a fisherman?" Jonah asked.

"Yeah, sort of." Edith shrugged off an unpleasant memory. "Anyway, I've got to get going. And keep an eye out—I really wasn't kidding about that Pokémon thief."

Without waiting to see his reaction, she scooped Skitter up and back onto her shoulder, and began walking again. Within an hour, she had arrived at the hotel and was at the Hotel front desk, Skitter discreetly left outside so as not to give the impression that she was planning to bring him in. She wasn't sure how the fancier places felt about non-human inhabitants.

"I'd like a room for one, for tonight," she said, and conducted the transaction to arrange it. Soon, she was being escorted upstairs to a small room in a corner, with a view overlooking a rather empty parking lot. "Thanks," she told the bellhop.

After he left, she opened the window and Skitter crawled in, a look of weariness apparent on his face. "I said you should have waited until we got to the room before you started following, but no, you just have to do everything your way." She flopped down on the bed, and nudged a pillow in his direction. "Try not to make too much of a mess."

Picking up the phone book inside the nightstand drawer, she looked up the number for the Veilstone City Police, and called. Explaining the situation to a bored-sounding Officer Jenny, she was told that someone would be sent out in the next few days. Apparently there had been a large jewelry heist that was taking most of the Veilstone force to solve.

Forced to accept that, she put down the phone, and only then did she realize how tired she was. She hadn't gotten more than a few hours rest since her Pokémon had disappeared.

Having nothing more to do, she slept, and when she woke it was dark out. Skitter was still dozing. _Dinner, and then I'll figure out what's next. I've got to start making some decisions. _She stared out the window, searching her mind for inspiration.

And then her eyes narrowed. _It couldn't be!_

But it was. For there, walking directly towards her hotel, in the same outfit he had worn _that _day, was the very boy she'd suspected of stealing her Pokémon!


	2. A Dangerous Dinner

Chapter Two: A Dangerous Dinner

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She'd been on the trail, just minding her own business as always, when he'd wandered past. He was the only one she'd seen that day, and they'd politely greeted each other instead of battling when he claimed he had no Pokémon.

She'd seen the Poké Ball he'd tried to conceal in the bulge of his backpack's side pocket—unless he really liked tennis—but she hadn't wanted to make an issue of it. He'd said "have a nice day," and left. Hours later, as she took a short break to refill her water bottle at a nearby stream, she'd returned to find her Poké Balls missing.

The first stage had been anger, a blinding fury that had her tearing through the woodlands and fields of tall grass in a blind panic, searching for something, anything that would lead her back to her team. The second stage had been terror, paralyzing her with wracking sobs in the middle of a passing sun shower.

Finally had come despair, the certainty that she'd ruined the only good opportunity she'd had in her short life, and that going home and living out the rest of her days in Pacifidlog would be akin to a sentence of life imprisonment.

That night, when Skitter had returned, she'd been sure for a moment that the boy had reconsidered, or that her Pokémon had staged a revolt and escaped. It was the second disappointment that was the most crushing.

But even in that darkness, Skipper's returned had offered a ray of hope. And she wasn't going to give up now.

"He'll tell me where my Pokémon are, or I'll make him pay. Pokémon aren't the only ones that can use Mach Punch!" Edith grabbed her backpack, flexed a fist, and opened the door. Skitter startled awake and raced to her side. "Stay put, or you'll get us both kicked out!" she warned. "Besides," her voice softened the slightest trace, "I can't afford to lose you, too."

Still upset, but too obedient to flat-out disobey, he moved to a dark corner. "Don't sulk," she told him. "I'll come back with dinner." _And the rest of my team as well, I hope!_

Shutting the door and locking it, she hurried down the stairs, not trusting the elevator to be fast enough. In the main lobby, she found the boy at the check-in desk. Shoving away her nerves, she put on a wide grin and walked forward.

"I couldn't believe it was you when I saw you out in the parking lot!" she exclaimed happily. The receptionist smiled. "My old traveling buddy," Edith told her, and sidled up to the desk, where the boy had written his name for a reservation: _Edward Sills._

"Eddie, it's been so long, aren't you even going to say hello?"

The boy turned. He had shaggy, unkempt blond hair that fell over eyes that seemed to be pale green in color. His battered leather jacket and faded beige cargo pants hung loosely over a narrow frame, and his head came up a few inches taller than her own five-foot three frame. Under the jacket he wore a black long-sleeved that looked far too nice for the rest of the outfit.

"It has been a while, hasn't it?" he replied, his voice sounding calm and unruffled by her deception. "Are you staying here as well?"

"Yeah, for a night. I have some things to figure out. Is that your room key?" She took it, and tucked it into his pocket. "Come on, now that that's all settled you can come have dinner with me."

Taking him by the arm, she all but dragged him away from the reception desk towards the small restaurant at the other end of the lobby. "Two, please," she said firmly, and tugged him inside after the waiter.

When they were seated at a table, he raised his eyebrows and placed both hands on the table, folded. "So. Are you going to tell me what this is all about?"

Edith's eyes darkened. "You miserable little liar. You _stole _my Pokémon! And you're going to give them back to me this minute or I'm going to call the cops."

The boy's blank expression didn't change. "I have no idea what you're talking about. I'm very sorry your Pokémon were stolen; I imagine that has to be very upsetting, but as I said that day, I have none of my own. And I certainly wouldn't want yours. I don't train."

Edie glared. "You were the only one who passed me by on the trail that day! And you do so—I saw a Poké Ball in your backpack!"

The boy stared back, unperturbed. "You mean the compass I use to keep from getting lost. And I'm the only person you _saw_," he pointed out. "It could have been anyone. Accusing rashly isn't going to help you."

"May I take your order?" The waiter appeared, as if by Teleport.

"I'll have a Sunflora salad, no sprouts. She'll have the cream of Niniku berry soup, to start." As the waiter trotted back towards the kitchen, he smiled. "You seemed chilly. I thought soup a safe choice. And it's Ward, not Eddie, if we're keeping up the pretense of being friends."

"What?" Edith sputtered. "You—why—you!"

"I'm not going to be cowed by a bullying girl," Ward continued. "No matter that you think I've stolen your Pokémon. I'd be happy to help you look for them, though, if you'd like."

Edith sighed. It looked like the kid was telling the truth. He was awfully slick and well-mannered to be a thief. And he'd paid for his reservation with a very full wallet. He was right. There was no reason for him to have stolen her Pokémon.

"I'm sorry if I jumped to the wrong conclusion," she said, emphasizing the _if._ She wasn't going to give up that easily.

"It's quite all right," he assured her. "Now what's your name, dear friend whom I haven't seen in some time?"

"Edie. Edith Prestear."

"Unusual name. From where do you hail?"

"From what planet do you hail from?" she fired back. "Do you seriously always talk like that? I'm from Pacifidlog."

Ward hmm-ed. "All the way from Hoenn, eh? That accounts for the accent, then."

"Who's got an accent?" she challenged, eyes glinting.

"My apologies," he lifted his hands to pacify her. "No insult intended. I'm from Celadon City, in Kanto."

The waiter returned with their appetizers, and Ward told Edith of his past, how he'd traveled around on account of his family's business, and decided recently that he wanted to travel a bit more before he settled down to learn how to run the company.

Edith didn't speak of her own past, instead allowing him to chatter on blithely as their dinner arrived, and then a massive Miltank-Nanab Split that he insisted they needed to try for dessert. When the check finally came, he refused to let her pay.

"My treat, I insist," he told her, sliding a credit card into the bill holder. The waiter took it away, and returned. After he'd signed, he got up and offered his arm to her. "May I take you back to your room?" he asked.

Edith had to admit, he'd been a perfect gentleman. Under other circumstances, she would have been flattered by the attention, if not particularly interested.

"No thanks," she answered. "It's been cool, Ward, but I've got to get to bed and get back to searching for my team. Have fun globetrotting, or whatever it is you do."

Walking out of the restaurant, she headed for the stairs, only belatedly realizing that she'd have to give Skitter something from the room service bar since she'd forgotten to feed him. _Hope he can make do with gummy bugs for one night._

Ward caught up with her. "Edith, I really am truly sorry about what happened to your Pokémon. I hope you find them soon."

Edith stopped, and turned to face him. "I hope so too." Worry for them flooded her face, her dark blue eyes. "You don't have Pokémon, so you can't imagine what it's like to lose them. It's like losing a part of yourself. No one should ever have to go through this."

He had no reply, and so she returned to her room without another word. Skitter was waiting for her, and it was obvious by the tracks dug deep in the carpet that he'd been pacing it. "Skit! Sur skit-skit!" he chattered.

"I'm fine, see?" she murmured as she rubbed the tracks out with her feet. "I didn't leave you behind."

She'd traded him to other trainers, given him away in one particular case, only to have to take him back each time when he refused to go. She'd finally accepted the fact that she was stuck with him once she'd caught her Poochyena, Howlie, via a net trap. Just because she kept him didn't mean she had to battle with him.

Although she had to admit, watching him disdainfully gulp down the Gummy Bugs, that he was kind of cute. He just wasn't cut out to battle, and that was what she wanted.

When her parents had told her they were finally giving her a Pokémon, she'd been over the moon. She'd wanted one for so long, waiting four years later than the average trainer, and she'd begun to think that she would be trapped in her poor fishing village forever.

Her parents caught Pokémon that drifted by the town to sell to outsider trainers in exchange for things like fresh water and food. They thought it was a fair trade, since they didn't train and all they wanted out of their lives was the quiet pace of the small floating town on the sea.

But Edith wanted better things. She wanted a big home, like the ones in the PokéZines. She wanted nice clothes, and adventures with her Pokémon, and she wanted to see the rest of world. But most of all, she just didn't want to be lonely anymore. Most of the people in Pacifidlog were old or dull or just…not like her.

So when they'd told her she could have a Pokémon, she'd thought it was the rare and beautiful Gorebyss they'd trapped earlier that day. She'd thought of the glory she'd attain, starting her training with such a highly-leveled Pokémon.

And then they'd showed her a Surskit, and told her she could keep it as a pet as she joined the family business full time. She'd been crushed. Unable even to cry in the privacy of her own chamber—everyone in Pacifidlog lived in one-room shacks—she had run out to the docks in tears.

There, she'd nearly kicked the small blue sphere Pokémon back into the sea. To this day, she still didn't know what had stopped her. Maybe it had been his eyes, the terrible self-hatred she saw in them for not being what she wanted, but she hadn't let him go.

It had taken her months to gather up the courage—and the money—to leave, and a few weeks more to finish building the sturdy boat that would get her through the rapid currents of Routes 133 and 134 and safely to Slateport City without attracting the notice of the occasional swimmers and (more dangerous) Sharpedos in the area.

But when she'd finally done it, with the tiny Surskit trailing timidly along behind her, she'd had the most wonderful day of her life. The feeling of finally being free of that miserable little town had been incredible. That was back before she'd learned Surskit was a terrible choice for a battler.

"Do you remember that first day out on the ocean?" she asked Skitter, as he finished the last bug. He gazed up at her, his thoughts hidden. "It was like flying. We had the whole world ahead of us. I don't think I'll ever be that happy again."

Skitter moaned and nuzzled up against her, trying to comfort. "Even though we could barely battle, we survived. And once we had other Pokémon, I even started to believe we might be okay.

"Now I don't know what to do," she finished in a whisper, and lifted him up to sit with her on a chair by the window. "I've lost everything."

Skitter let out a quiet whistle, then subsided, knowing there was no comfort he could offer her. There they sat quietly, staring out at the stars until they both slowly drifted into sleep.


End file.
